October 2018 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Joel A. Dalrymple, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., Mullins, J., and Mahan, S.J.  Opinion by Mahan, S.J.  (7 pages)

            A defendant appeals his conviction of robbery in the second degree, claiming (I) there was insufficient evidence to corroborate the accomplice testimony and prove his participation in the crime and (II) the district court abused its discretion in sentencing him.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Mary E. Chicchelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Ricco Thigpen appeals the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief, claiming his trial attorney was ineffective in failing to call an eyewitness-identification expert at the suppression hearing and at trial.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of the postconviction-relief application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Delaware County, Bradley J. Harris, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (6 pages)

            Jamie Cole appeals the denial of his motion for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Cole’s claim that his plea counsel was ineffective is barred because Cole failed to raise that claim until this appeal. Cole’s postconviction-relief counsel was not ineffective because Cole elected to represent himself pro se. The district court substantially complied with Iowa Code section 822.7 (2015) when ruling on Cole’s application for postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, John G. Linn, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Heard by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, P.J.  (15 pages)

            Ashley Holtkamp appeals from the decree dissolving her marriage to Nathan Holtkamp.  She argues the trial court erred in finding their prenuptial agreement enforceable and in establishing Nathan’s visitation schedule with the parties’ minor children.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Ashley failed to prove the prenuptial agreement was executed involuntarily, was procedurally unconscionable, or lacked a financial disclosure, we agree with the district court that the prenuptial agreement is enforceable.  Additionally, we modify the visitation schedule on Tuesday nights and weekends and otherwise agree the visitation schedule is in the best interests of the children. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Nancy S. Tabor, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Collin Rush Brantley appeals the district court’s imposition of a suspended sentence plus probation following his plea to possession of a controlled substance arguing that he was entitled to a deferred judgment.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the appellant’s conviction, judgment, and sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Danilson, C.J., and Potterfield and Doyle, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, J.  Special Concurrence by Doyle, J.  (20 pages)

            Andrew Gerth appeals from the district court’s dismissal of his petition alleging age discrimination against his former employer, Iowa Business Growth, Inc., and former supervisor, Dan Robeson.  Gerth challenges the dismissal, but he does not dispute that the defendants were served outside of the ninety-day window.  Gerth raises the following claims: (1) He argues the district court had the discretion to grant an extension even without a showing of good cause and should have done so.  (2) Alternatively, he claims he established good cause for the delay.  As part of this argument, he claims the ninety-day window for service did not begin until the clerk’s office issued the original notice, which in this case occurred two days after Gerth initially filed the petition—making service late by one day rather than three.  He also claims the district court should have, as part of its good-cause analysis, considered the extent his rights would be prejudiced by the dismissal.  (3) Finally, Gerth claims that even if good cause is necessary for an extension and he did not establish it, dismissal was inappropriate because service was only late by three days or less and the defendants were not prejudiced by the delay.  OPINION HOLDS: Because a finding of good cause is required before the court extends the period to timely serve the defendants, and because Gerth has failed to establish good cause for the delay, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Gerth’s petition.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I concur based on the current precedent cited by the majority but write specially to advocate for an amendment to Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.302(5) that would require the defendant show prejudice even in the absence of “good cause” on the part of the plaintiff in failing to timely serve.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Carl J. Peterson, Judge.  CONVICTION AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED, AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Potterfield, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Jerry Mosley appeals his convictions and sentence for first-degree burglary and assault causing bodily injury raising claims of insufficiency of evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, failure to merge, and inappropriate imposition of restitution costs.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Mosley’s conviction for first-degree burglary, preserve his ineffective-assistance claim for postconviction proceedings, and vacate his sentence, remanding for merger of the assault and burglary convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, David C. Larson, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Doyle, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (10 pages)

            Nine years after the district court erroneously assessed Beau Tremaine Berge court costs in dismissed criminal cases, he challenged the assessment of those costs, which the district court denied.  OPINION HOLDS: On this discretionary review, because of legal precedent, Berge’s own failure to timely challenge the assessments, and his later agreement in a contempt proceeding to pay the costs, we find the district court properly denied Berge’s challenge and affirm.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (13 pages)

           Tony Grider appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  He argues his postconviction-relief counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to ensure the district court addressed all of his claims, including claims his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find none of the claims the postconviction-relief court failed to explicitly address would have changed the outcome of Grider’s postconviction-relief application, Grider was not prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to file a rule 1.904 motion.  We find Grider's postconviction-relief counsel’s failure does not warrant relief and affirm the district court’s dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Timothy J. Finn, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (4 pages)

            Terrion Maxfield appeals the denial of his motion to continue trial and his sentences.  OPINION HOLDS: The defendant’s guilty plea waives his challenge to the denial of his motion to continue.  Because the trial court did not consider improper factors at sentencing, it did not abuse its discretion in imposing consecutive sentences.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buchanan County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Bower, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (11 pages)

            Lowell Ewalt appeals from his conviction for possession of a controlled substance (marijuana).  He challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained after the initiation of a routine traffic stop for speeding.  Ewalt maintains the officer unconstitutionally extended the duration of the stop; he also argues that he should have been told his Miranda rights before the officer asked him questions pertaining to his use of marijuana.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the extension of the duration of the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion and because Ewalt was not in custody—and Miranda requirements had not been triggered—when he made incriminating statements to Trooper Smith, Ewalt’s constitutional rights were not violated.  The district court properly denied Ewalt’s motion to suppress. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (13 pages)

            Defendants appeal from the district court’s ruling on the plaintiff’s breach-of-contract action, raising a number of claims.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the judgment in favor of the plaintiff in its entirety, and we remand for a determination of an award of attorney fees incurred on appeal.